YES Theatre’s Alessandro Costantini was just 17 when he founded the company 15 years ago, in 2010.
While he’s still on the young-ish side himself, the next generation is already nipping at his heels.
That includes Costantini’s 10-year-old niece, Daniela Costantini, who, along with her nine-year-old bestie Norah Lavallee, are sharing the role of Charlie the Changeling Child in this summer’s production of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
The show runs at YES Theatre’s outdoor Refettorio theatre until Aug. 9.
Both Gen Alpha-ers say they want to be famous actresses like Ariana Grande, who’s known for playing Glinda in last year’s musical film “Wicked.”
Asked if she’d like to make her life in theatre, as her uncle has, Costantini, a student at École publique Jean-Éthier-Blais said, “Probably, yeah. Probably when he retires, I'm just going to take over.”
“Can I help you run it?” asked Norah, who’s a student at Lasalle Elementary School, saying they could take turns running YES Theatre, in case one of them has to appear on Broadway.
“There you go, the two of you could do that,” Costantini said with a laugh.
Daniela and Norah first met when they appeared in the kids’ choir in YES Theatre’s 2023 production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.” They were also both in the kids’ ensemble in the 2024 holiday production of “Oliver!”
Although they didn’t previously know each other, their families go way back, as their parents grew up on the same street (Daniela is the child of Costantini’s brother Silvano).
“We met during Joseph, and we just sat beside each other, and we were like, who are you?” said Daniela. “And then we just started talking, and then we became friends.”
Both girls said they’ve loved spending their summer in rehearsals, and the fact that, as the youngest members of the cast, they get babied. They’ve also enjoyed the gelato that’s on offer at the Refettorio.
The kids are performing Shakespeare, which many full-grown adults find confusing, given it was written more than 400 years ago.
But Daniela said one of the rehearsals helped, as the actors gave their lines in modern-day English, although the young smarty-pants said she actually got the works of Shakespeare for her birthday, and she’s been reading it.
“How they explained it in their own words really helped me understand it, because I don't think anyone in the world ever speaks Shakespearean anymore,” said Norah.
Costantini said both Daniela and Norah are “generous actors” who are constantly giving their thoughts while in rehearsal.
He said it means a lot to him that his niece has shown an interest in theatre, but he was also nervous, because he knows from personal experience that it can be difficult for young people in the industry.
Besides Daniela, Costantini also has a younger niece and two younger nephews who could be next (he jokes that he could end up with his own Von Trapp Family Singers).
“My family has always been there for me since the beginning, in such amazing ways,” Costantini said. “To see that sense of pride now being passed on to my niece is very emotional for me, and really moving. And yeah, it makes me very, very happy.”
The origins of YES Theatre’s name is Youth Entertaining Sudbury (or YES), and Costantini said it’s been wonderful over the last couple of years to have chosen material that allows the company to engage many young people.
“It's really important to me that we are creating professional opportunities for kids in our community to be inside professional shows and get an understanding of what the scope of that work is and the rigour of it,” he said.
Tickets to “Midsummer,” which runs at The Refettorio until Aug. 9, as well as to YES Theatre’s “Jesus Christ Superstar,” which is running concurrently at the Sudbury Theatre Centre until Aug. 16, are available at yestheatre.com.
Heidi Ulrichsen is Sudbury.com’s assistant editor. She also covers education and the arts scene.